Nearly Perfect Strangers
by don't resist
Summary: She walked to his bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. She shook his leg. “Can I lay with you?” ShikaHina


**Summary:** She walked to his bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. She shook his leg. _"Can I lay with you?"_ ShikaHina

**Disclaimer:** If I could own anything in the world, it would be this couple.

XxXxXx

The two of them sat in the living room, her a runaway, him an author. Neither spoke, taking in the silence of the room until she murmured something about needing clothes to sleep in.

XxXxXx

_"Excuse me, Miss?" he asked, sitting beside a hysterical young woman, probably only about seventeen. "Are you alright?"_

_She looked up at him with pale opal eyes and shook her head, her tears staining her skirt and top. She turned her head away and began sobbing again. He only heard parts of her hysteria, hearing her utter about her parent being unfit and how she didn't deserve to get help from a perfect stranger._

"_Um, Miss, may I offer you some coffee or tea? I, myself, am actually on my way there. I could buy you something."_

_She nodded and her hand reached up and brushed away some of the salty water that bled from her eyes into her clothes. "Y-y-you are v-very kind…" she stammered, only glancing up for a moment. She had seen his face somewhere, but couldn't exactly place it._

_He only shrugged, not bothering to accept nor decline her accusation. He wasn't kind, he was lazy, and he didn't want to go to his meeting about this 'new book' he was supposed to be writing. "Here," he offered, holding his arm out to her._

_She stood and took it gracefully, wiping the remainder of her tears on the back of her hand. "Th-thank you, again."_

XxXxXx

He stood up and walked into another room. She watched him leave and allowed her hands to leave her knees as she sat on the couch. She sighed and stood up, pulling off the blankets on the back of the couch. Laying them out, she glanced up to see him watching her, an oversized tee shirt and a pair of shorts that looked a little too small for him.

"This is all I have that you can borrow," he said quietly when his coal black eyes met her soft opal eyes.

She nodded and walked to him, taking the clothes in her arms, letting her fingertips brush over his forearm as she took the articles. She hadn't said a word since he offered to let her spend the night in his apartment for the night, or until she found a place. He had even let her know he thought she was too young to be living on her own yet.

XxXxXx

_They sat at the coffee shop, sharing a table at the back while she told him how she had run off from her father and his telling her to marry a man she hadn't met nor liked, from what she'd heard. She wasn't permitted to leave the house without protection, just in case people who didn't like her father assassinated her. However, she wasn't even permitted to meet any of her father's clients. _

_He only nodded as she spoke, giving her a chance to vent for a while. When she was finished, he set his hand over her own. He could feel her trembling. She was scared, he could tell. He ran his thumb over her soft hands and nodded at her again._

"_You can stay with me for a while. I wouldn't mind."_

XxXxXx

He sat on the couch, crinkling the fabrics she'd lain out perfectly on the couch as he waited for her to come back out. His heart skipped a beat around her, but he wouldn't tell her that. He could keep a small crush to himself. He was always able to.

She emerged, holding her clothes in her arms. He stood up quickly and took the clothes from her. He smiled and told her he'd take them and wash them while she rested.

She lay down, her dark hair splayed across the neutral fabric of his blanket. During their coffee break, she had figured out he was an author that her father had hired to write his biography. He had a meeting with that man today. Her father was always complaining about how he was always late and was too lazy to come to all of the meetings anyway.

XxXxXx

_She smiled at him from across the table and let her eyes fall to her chai. "Thank you, but I hardly know you."_

_"I understand," he said, straightening, and pulling his hand away._

_"You see, if my father found out about me staying the night at a stranger's, he would threaten you."_

_She watched his reaction for fear, but only heard laughter. "What could he do to me?"_

_He was afraid he'd blown who he was, but he didn't really care. He'd probably appear to be careless in her eyes. She smiled at him again and nodded. "I suppose, if I can't get a hold of my cousin, I could stay with you a night or two."_

XxXxXx

The shirt was too long, and the shorts a little too short. She'd guessed they were bicycle shorts that he'd thought about using, but didn't. She liked laying on his couch, it wasn't lumpy, but something about it was uncomfortable.

He walked out, and there was a soft rumble in a few rooms over. "Are you doing alright? Hungry? Thirsty?"

She shook her head and looked at him upside-down. He smirked at her and turned. "I'm going to hit the sack. Come get me if you need anything. I'm just over here."

She'd seen him walking into his own room to get the clothes, so she figured he was only being courteous. No one she knew wanted to be woken up in the middle of the night to be asked about a pillow. It hit her, that was what she was missing, but by now he was fast asleep.

XxXxXx

_He handed her his cell phone, offering her to call her cousin. She took it, brushing her fingertips over his forearm. She'd done it before when he'd offered her his arm. He was warm, and she felt cold when she touched him, but electricity jolted through her when she touched his skin._

_She called twice, getting voice mail. She even tried her cousin's girlfriend, who told her he was off on a conference call in a bigger city. She apologized for not being a big help. "He'll be back in a week or two. Sorry." That's exactly what she'd said._

_She shook her head and slid the phone across to him. "I guess I'll take up your offer," she said quietly, hoping she didn't sound too eager. She wanted to go with him, knowing that he would call her father later, or he would call him and they would speak about her. This man would lie for her, and she would thank him._

XxXxXx

She fell asleep after a few tries of making a makeshift pillow from a blanket. She was comfortably sleeping, until she rolled over and onto the wooden floor of his apartment. She stood up, carrying the blankets with her and to his room.

XxXxXx

_He opened the door for her and she walked in. He offered her the bed or the couch, and she graciously took the couch. She didn't say it, however, she sat on it and patted it. He sat beside her and there they sat in an awkward silence._

XxXxXx

She walked to his bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. She shook his leg, waking him a bit. "Can I lay with you?" she asked quietly, her eyes still hazy with sleep. He backed up a little and made room for her in front of him.

She lay down beside him, sharing his pillow. She smiled lazily and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Mr. Nara," she murmured as she drifted to sleep.

He, on the other hand, opened his eyes widely and stared at her. When he saw her steady breathing, he shook his head. He was a nineteen-year-old working for her father. She would have figured it out sooner or later. "Good night, Miss Hyuuga," he murmured back to her, falling into his own slumber.

XxXxXx

_Well… I had this idea, and I thought about setting it up in where the actual characters exists, but then I went to San Francisco, and decided that a small city would be perfect. So, this could be anywhere, but right now, I'm saying it takes place in San Francisco. Neji is probably in Sacramento or in New York, New York._

_Thanks for the read! Don't forget to leave a cookie or a review!!_

_Much Love,  
Hotari-chan_


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